Bedtime Story
by HalfMagyk
Summary: When Miko asks her older sister for a bedtime story, Taira weaves a sad and lonely tale, relating the dark past of a most artistic villian.


(Forgot this before) DISCLAIMER: Unfortunatly, I don't own Deidara, Iwagakure, or the Narutoverse. Taira, Miko, Rai, Kita, and Makuto are my own, however, so no stealies.

"Tell me a story," Miko commanded, her blue eyes, which were a bit too large for her five-year-old face, were shining with excitement.

Rai sighed. Though his little sister was adorable and even sweet at times, she was undoubtedly the single bossiest person he knew.

Taira, whom at fifteen was four years older than Rai, heard his sigh and shot him a rueful smile. As she untied her headband from her neck, she asked, "What story would you like to hear, Ko-chan?"

"I want the one about De—Dei…" Miko struggled to remember. "That person with the clay," she said finally.

Rai rolled his eyes. "You've heard it a million times, Miko."

"I wanna hear it again!"

"Miko, hush," Taira said gently. "And Rai, if it's her favorite, don't hold that against her."

"I don't know what's so great about that story anyway," Rai muttered, scowling.

"It's great 'cause it's _true_," Miko said impatiently, as if that were obvious.

Taira sat down on Miko's bed and pointed at the chair that was always across from it. "If you want to hear it, Rai, sit there, please. If not, go to your room and get in bed."

Rai sat down in the chair immediately.

Folding her hands in her lap, Taira began:

"Years and years ago, Iwagakure had begun experiments to further our understanding of the human body. We hoped to be able to create almost invincible ninjas, or formulate a great weapon that a ninja could use."

"Like a kunai?" Miko asked innocently, as if she didn't know.

"No, Ko-chan, a weapon embedded in the body."

"It's disgusting," Rai put in. "The things they did…"

Taira sighed. "I'm afraid you're right, Rai-kun. It was immoral."

"And, and?" Miko pressed, anxious to get to the main story.

"Yes," Taira continued, "So they were doing these experiments, and one of the unborn children experimented on was born with two extra mouths."

Miko made a face. "Yuck."

Rai smirked. "Imagine trying to eat like that. Which mouth would you feed?" he joked.

"These mouths weren't for eating. There was one on each of his hands, and none of the medics were exactly sure what they would be used for."

"I think that's weird," Miko announced.

"So did everyone else," Taira continued. "This little boy, when he was born, was instantly rejected by his mother, who, soon after he turned one year old, killed herself."

Miko was silent for a moment, shocked that such an event could possibly occur. When she got over the shock, she asked, "Was the boy really ugly?"

"You know exactly how he looked, Ko-chan, I've told this story at least twenty times."

"Tell me anyway. I like the way you tell it."

"Well, he was a lovely child, actually. If you didn't see his palms you could never guess he was any different. He had large blue eyes with a delighted shine in them, and he smiled a lot. When his hair began to grow, it was a bright, sunny yellow, which came as no surprise to his family, who had guessed that such a joyful child should have hair to match."

"And his hair grew fast, right?"

"It certainly did. By the time he was two, he needed a haircut each month. Eventually, he let it grow, and when it grew past his shoulders it stopped going so quickly."

"Wouldn't he look like a girl?"

Taira smiled. "Maybe from far away.

"But this boy—his name was Deidara—did not have much to be happy about. The whole village was repulsed by him; most people not letting him go near them. People fear what they know nothing about, and Deidara was, admittedly, an oddity.

"The only people who accepted him in any way were his father and, when they were born later after his father remarried, his siblings, one born when Deidara was five and one when he was nine.

"His father was the only one who loved Deidara unconditionally. Even after his wife's death, whom he had hardly loved anyway. He didn't care how odd his son was, but instead took pride in Deidara's constant smiles and the promise he showed even before he was your age, Ko-chan."

"Wow," breathed Miko, whom was only beginning to train with Taira and Rai so she could learn the basics of being a ninja before she became a Genin in eight years.

"His father's new wife did not hate or fear Deidara, but she didn't truly accept him as his father did. But she tried to be a mother to him as best she could.

When Deidara's sister was born, however, his parents' attention turned to taking care of the new child, and he felt rejected and lonely. This was when he found the love of his life."

"A _girl_?" Miko asked, her eyes twinkling merrily.

Taira laughed. "No, Ko-chan. He discovered his art.

"As you know, there's plenty of clay around our area. We are the Village Hidden in the Rocks, after all. Well, one day, when Deidara was aimlessly wandering around the deserted area near a cliff, which he had claimed as his own, he remembered when he noticed some children in school had brought clay with them. They had played with it throughout the day, and when he had asked them where he got it, one of the boys stuttered out, 'W-we dug some up. You can find it almost anywhere. Please don't hurt me.'

"Though Deidara was pained by the fear in the boy's voice and eyes, the clay had captivated him. He dug in the ground by his area, and after a lot of hard work, came up with some earthen clay. He added water to it and found it became just like the boys'.

"It first became a hobby, and later it neared to obsession. He was constantly digging up clay and forming it into little models, animals, people, anything he could think of. They became his friends, and he spoke to them as to human beings.

"Soon enough, however, two things occurred that brought him back to the mortal world: first, his brother was born.

"While he felt a sense of kinship with his sister, who had been as nice to him as she possibly could while still feeling odd about his hands, he instinctively did not like his brother."

"Why?" Miko asked.

Taira closed her eyes. "I don't know, Ko-chan. Why do you think?"

"Maybe…because his brother was a boy too?"

"That's exactly what I thought. Here was a perfectly ordinary boy, something his father had not had before. Deidara was afraid that now that there was a 'normal' person to compare him with, his father would cease to love him."

"That's silly," Rai put in.

Taira frowned. "Maybe it is, but if you had been abandoned by your birth mother and hated by everyone you knew but your family, you might think so too.

"At any rate, Deidara grew up with contempt for his brother, whose brown hair grew at a normal rate and whom eventually became immensely popular with everyone he knew, though his skill in ninjutsu could never match Deidara's."

"I feel so sorry for Deidara," Miko said sadly. "How did he get through the day?"

"Well," Taira continued with a smile, "things eventually got better for our poor hero. But first they had to get worse.

"As Deidara grew older, his need to be with people increased. He would take walks through the village every day.

"Of course, this did not mean he was accepted. People cursed at him, shot him looks, went out of their way to avoid him. No one thought of the asset he could have been to the village, how much he could have helped.

"And though Deidara was a usually stoic and calm boy, soon he could not bear the way he was being treated. Whenever he came home from these walks, he would take his clay and shape dolls of the people who had tormented him the most, then attach an exploding tag to a kunai and toss it at the figurine. He found explosion to be the most beautiful thing he had ever seen, and considered his figures to only truly be art in the moment they ignited.

"Though he could have graduated from school at nine, he was barred from doing so. It was a rule that everyone was to graduate at the same age, though some exceptions could be made. In Deidara's case, there was no such thing.

"When he finally became a Genin, he dreaded doing missions with his new team. His sensei was a kind and open person, she would most likely be civil to him, but his teammates were some of the people he had been abused by his whole life."

Miko was in tears. "T-that's s-s-s-so unfair!" she wailed.

Taira paused. "You want me to stop, Ko-chan?"

Shaking her head vehemently, Miko said, "No! This is the part where it gets better, right?"

Smiling, Taira nodded.

"Deidara was in for a pleasant surprise. His teammates soon got to know him, and, in time, looked past his differences to find the wonderful person that he had always been, but no one had known. They became three of the closest friends in the entire village, almost always seen in each other's company, rarely frowned when they were together, and gave Deidara a reason to smile.

"And smile he did. His parents and siblings were overjoyed to hear about his new friends, and Deidara stopped exploding his sculptures. Instead, he shaped toys for his teammates, which they treasured.

"Soon enough, they discovered Deidara's true power."

"Ooh…" Miko breathed.

"When he was fooling around with the mouths on his hands, one of his friends, Kita, asked him what he thought would happen if they ate dust. 'Will they cough?' she asked him laughingly.

"He wondered too, and she scooped up what she thought was dust from a bag laying near her feet.

"It turned out, however, that the bag contained Deidara's raw clay, which was like powder.

"And it was like the mouths knew exactly what to do, and so did Deidara. He fused his chakra into the clay and the mouths spat it back out minutes later."

"Ewwwwww!" Miko cried.

"Come on, Miko, it's not that bad," Rai said.

"Ahem." Miko and Rai both looked at their older sister. "Continuing on."

"Eagerly, Deidara shaped this bit of clay into a spider, one of his favorite models. Even as he did, he felt the chakra pulsing though the clay. When he was finished, he threw it as far as he could, knowing what would happen."

"Boom!" Miko cried.

Taira nodded. "That's right. Boom. It exploded.

"Kita and Makuto, his other teammate, encouraged Deidara to continue making these miniature bombs, saying it was an incredible weapon and could be developed further in several ways.

"Deidara did just that. He developed hundreds of variations on the basic bomb, and he was an enormous success in battle.

"And little by little, even the village began to accept him. They learned of how skilled he was and how successful, and they began to see past the differences, as Kita and Makuto had."

Miko smiled. "I'm so glad that things got better."

Rai looked annoyed. "You knew they would. You've heard this before."

"Shut up," Miko told him.

"Ko-chan, that is no way to speak to your brother. Rai-kun, please leave her alone."

Both of them looked down ashamedly.

"Now then. Shall I continue or should we wait until tomorrow?"

"No!" Miko practically screamed.

Taira put a finger to her lips. "Hush, Ko-chan. You'll wake mother and father.

"Deidara was feeling better than he ever had in his life, until the day when three boys chose to taunt him again.

"When they began to call him names, a circle had formed and everyone was watching. I was there as well, and Rai."

At this moment, Rai abruptly stood up and walked purposefully towards his room. "I can't take this goddamn story anymore," he snapped before slamming his door.

Miko looked at Taira with wide eyes.

"Don't mind him, Ko-chan," Taira assured her, not looking up. She continued:

"Deidara reached for his clay, but when he had crafted the bomb and was all set to throw it at the boys, his siblings rushed forward and blocked its path.

"But it was too late to stop the bomb, and it went off right in front of his sister and brother.

"His brother, whom was standing a bit father away and had good reflexes, managed to get out of the way of the explosion. The boys were close behind him.

"His sister, however, did not react quickly enough. She was knocked unconscious and very nearly killed."

"Nee-chan, how old were they by then? I forgot."

Taira tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Well, let's see, his sister was about eleven, so that would put his brother at six and Deidara himself, fifteen."

"Wow, how did the brother manage to get away if he was only six?"

"He had trained vigorously. Deidara and his brother had had a bit of a rivalry, ever since Deidara was 13 and his brother only four. His brother wanted so badly to surpass him, even at a very young age, because Deidara sometimes taunted his brother as an outlet to the stress he himself felt, that he had to be perfect or everyone would hate him again."

"That's very mean."

"People do mean things when mean things are done to them. It is our nature."

"Okay, so Deidara's brother was really really good and pulled those mean boys away. And his sister was almost dead. Then what?"

"Then," Taira went on, "came the worst of anything Deidara had endured.

"His sister survived, but she had lost her sight and the serenity that her life before sightlessness had offered. She tried not to blame Deidara for his actions, despite this.

"However, the rest of his family was not so merciful. His brother began to genuinely despise him. His stepmother refused to look at him. And, worst of all, his father could not love him the same way he had before, no matter how he tried.

"His friends had begun to distance themselves from him, afraid of his power and his temper. The village began to talk, and he was once again shunned.

"During this time, he clung to his sister, the victim who, ironically, was the only one who still loved him the same way she always had.

"Or she seemed to."

Miko shut her eyes tight. "I don't like this part."

"You want me to stop?"

"No."

"All right then. After an exceedingly trying day without her sight, his sister stormed into Deidara's room and raged at him, telling him, through a wave of tears, that he was the worst thing that had happened to her and she wished he didn't exist.

"This cut Deidara more deeply than anything ever had.

"Be careful what you wish for, you've probably heard, right Ko-chan? Because you just might get it.

"Deidara's sister got her wish. He disappeared from her life, and the lives of everyone else in Iwagakure."

Tears streamed down Miko's face, but Taira did not ask if Miko wanted her to stop.

"Most people think that he left in shame; that he could not bear to face anyone from the village because of what he'd done."

Taira bowed her head. "But I believe that Deidara left because he could no longer stand the abuse he was constantly put through. He didn't deserve it, and he knew it. I think he left Iwagakure with the intention of coming back, not to return to his home, but to destroy it.

"Do you think he will?" Miko whispered.

"I—I—well…y-you never know," Taira stammered. "But I don't…

"Well, anyway," she went on hastily. "Just let me finish.

"Later we heard about him; he was a bomber for hire. He had become dangerously obsessed with his bombs, his 'art,' and he had begun traveling in the wrong direction.

A year or two later, we heard that he had joined a criminal organization, proving that he had severed all ties to Iwagakure and his family.

And everyone in our village realized that this is what happens when you drive someone into a corner. The weakest and strangest of shinobi can become strong over time, and those who are kicked around have the longest memory.

"There is a lesson to be learned here, Ko-chan. If someone is different, do not shun them, reach out to them. Extend the hand of friendship, and see if it is not returned to you. Like them first, look later. Unless, of course, they're going for your throat," Taira finished with a grin.

Miko considered this. "Nee-chan?"

"Yes?"

"There's a boy I know with a weird-looking arm and leg. Everyone ignores him and he has no friends. I've decided that I'm going to make friends with him tomorrow. I'll ask him to train with me and you and Rai, if that's okay?"

"Of course it is." Taira leaned down and kissed her sister's forehead.

Smiling, she said, "I didn't miss this time."

Miko was already asleep.

Taira felt her way toward her room, being careful not to bump into any walls. She remembered how much pain she was in the first day she'd had to feel around like this.

When she got to her room, she strode toward the window seat and sat down.

"How I wish I could see the moon, nii-san," she said. "It should be full today. But I don't hold that against you. I wish you knew.

"Miko asked for your story again. She doesn't know yet. I'd have thought she might make the connection by now, but she hasn't.

Taira paused. She couldn't think of much more to say but the usual.

"I'm so sorry, nii-san. I wish you hadn't left. You took the wrong path, and it was not only your fault. Each person in this village shoulders the blame, and they live with it every day, as father, Rai, and I do.

"I wish I could see you one more time, but that's impossible. I wish I could touch you and tell you how much you meant to me. If you came back, I could…

"I wonder what you're getting up to. You're supposedly evil now, aren't you? Maybe villains, at least, don't care about appearances, and they accept you like Iwagakure never really did. I hope you've met some friends.

"Kita and Makuto tell me that they think of you often. You would love to see what they've done, they've gone and each tattooed a mouth on one hand. They still keep the clay toys you gave them years ago." She felt around on her table until her hand closed around a small clay spider. "As do I.

"I miss you, nii-san. I wish you knew how much I love you."

Closing her unseeing eyes, Taira crawled into her bed and let sleep claim her, unaware that somewhere far away, a brother had forgotten her a long time ago.

A/N: I hope you liked it :D Just so you know, this isn't my Deidara theory at all, it's just a story. Whether it's what happens or not is Kishimoto's choice.

Also, see if you can find out what Taira's name means. It DOES have to do with her personality.

R&R's are much appreciated, so I can know what I did right or wrong. Thanks. :D


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